How To Attract The Right Candidate For Your Company
1. Develop a proper job specification – (see our Writing a Job Specification page)
The job specification is often badly written. Most employees do not consider how important it is as this is the first impression they have of your business. If the job specification is too long or too vague, it will fail to attract the right calibre of candidates. Also, make sure that the detail is correct. For example the job title – keep it simple but informative of the role. Many employers call certain positions by different titles but they still are the same, such as Sales Executive may also be called Area Sales Executive or even Sales Manager so make sure that you include a full description and salary to show your level of expectation of the applicants.
2. Think about who will be conducting the interviews
The person who ultimately is going to be responsible for the hire should be involved in the interviewing and decision making from the start, however it can also be valuable to involve other employees who will actually be working with the selected candidate. Current staff who serve in the same or aligned position will be able to give potential candidates a real and true overview of what it is like to work at your business and why they work there themselves. It makes the process less daunting knowing that you have already met part of the team and therefore if offered the job the candidate is more certain about their decision.
3. Be prepared for the interview
Think about the criteria and questions that you wish to cover during the interview. A structured interview with good communication are essential at this stage to avoid discrimination. The questions you ask a candidate should be based on the requirements of the role.
4. Professional Interviewing (see our Interview Techniques page)
As an employer you will want to get the message across of your business, the needs of the role and what the future holds for the company, however, if you have spoken for the majority of the interview then you haven’t established whether or not the candidate can actually do the job you require or even whether they are interested! Keep to your questions so that you keep on track and get the answers you really wanted to know. This includes being open and honest about the job so the candidate can demonstrate their suitability and being aware of your body language and communication.
All of the points above build an image of your company once someone has entered in the recruitment process. By understanding how important these are you will see that they all contribute to an impression other candidates may have about you. Doing interviews well will naturally attract the right candidates from the market. They will believe you are a professional company who know what they want and where they are going. Doing the opposite will mean candidates may have already built up a negative impression and don’t even want to be considered for the role.
As part of the dedicated service we provide, the consultants at Key will always help you through this process. We may have a vested interest in placing people with you, but we’ve always taken the long term view that getting it right is more important and ultimately more profitable than getting a quick win. For more help and advice on this and any other part of the recruitment process, please give us a call today on 0161 443 0000.
